Courtesy Tanimura & Antle Tanimura & Antle is shipping iceberg lettuce heads in baseball-themed packaging.
A graphic of red stitching circles the lettuce head, and a wedge salad recipe resembles a baseball card. It’s available to retailers through October, said Diana McClean, director of marketing at the Salinas, Calif.-based grower-shipper.
The idea was drawn from the company’s experience in 2007, when similar packaging boosted sales for two weeks leading up to Father’s Day, McClean said. Then the baseball packaging was linked to a retail display contest; now it’s not.
“This time we went simply with the packaging,” McClean said. “We had great success in 2007, and as we come back into baseball season it gives our retailers an opportunity to present something eye-catching throughout the season and rejuvenate iceberg sales off the shelf.”
The recipe, dubbed “home run wedge salad,” includes a half cup — and a graphic — of another Tanimura & Antle product, Artisan sweet Italian red onions. Other ingredients are tomato, bacon and ranch dressing.
“We’re co-marketing our own product and also giving consumers a meal solution on the package, which is something regularly commented on,” McClean said. “Consumers like to have recipes on the packaging.”
The shipments began in May, when Tanimura & Antle also redesigned its wrapped leaf lettuce bags. The bags come in five color-coded varieties and promote the company’s field packing process. The line was renamed Field Fresh Wrapped Leaf Lettuce.
The company’s Summer Fun Sweepstakes runs through July. Weekly $1,000 winners are named on the Artisan Facebook page.
“We’ve got quite a few things going on cohesively during salad season, focused on packaging to give retailers an opportunity for product to stand out,” McClean said.
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